Conspiracy - Die Wannseekonferenz

Twelve people, two hours, and a world forever changed. This noncommittal chatter, where the biggest fights arise because certain previous laws are contradicted, gives me the chills. Branagh's smiling, eternally optimistic, and friendly Heydrich is (at the very least) among the top 20 greatest movie assholes of all time. Turning up one’s nose at the fact that the camera more or less does not move from the table seems to me rather misguided in a television reconstruction of an event of this nature. (24.04.2010)

An excellent chamber drama about a “tea party" where the subject of discussion, as if nothing’s doing, is one of the biggest crimes against humanity in the form of the Final Solution of the “Jewish question". The resulting movie is more chilling than you might expect is possible. The main roles played by Colin Firth and Stanley Tucci are just great. But the “man of the movie" is the excellent Richard Branagh who plays the arch Nazi brute, Reinhard Heydrich. The picture assumes that the viewer is familiar with the historical background and so doesn’t explain much. With respect to the overall quality, it should be said that this is a high standard movie as we have learned to expect from HBO productions. (26.01.2005)

The Conference at Wannsee or planning genocide live, in a good mood and over a table full of sausages, canapés, and good wine. This is clearly a conversational affair taking place in the courtyard and interiors of an old noble mansion. Essentially, it is a form of the now popular docudrama, but this time it is not just a cheap backdrop for recounting historical events, but top actors become the protagonists, and the screenwriter has put effort into elaborate characters of the Nazi officials and finely crafted dialogue. There is no gunfire, no massacre, but those cynical, zealous speeches constantly send shivers down the spine. There are only very few films that can show Nazism as such a monstrosity as this one does. Overall impression: 90%. The appendix clearly shows how imperfect human justice is and how political interests take precedence... (06.06.2014)

I'll keep this short. A very interesting theme, but any possible enjoyment was nipped in the bud by the casting of Kenneth Branagh as Reinhard Heydrich. What were they thinking? Next time Gérard Depardieu could play Hitler. I just couldn't get over the dissimilarity. (25.07.2016)